JNU Might Install A Battle Tank To Promote Nationalism

NEW DELHI, INDIA - JANUARY 18: Army tanks move during the rehearsals for the Republic Day parade at Raj Path, on January 18, 2015 in New Delhi, India. Republic Day is celebrated every year on 26 January to commemorate the date and moment when the Constitution of India came into effect. To mark Republic Day in a memorable and significant way, a grand parade is held that starts from the Raisina Hill in the neighbourhood of the majestic Rashtrapati Bhawan and passes along the Rajpath thus ending at India Gate. (Photo by Virendra Singh Gosain/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

NEW DELHI -- With everyone out to prove their "nationalism" credentials, Jawaharlal Nehru University is "actively considering" displaying a tank on its campus.

The Indian Express reported today that this suggestion was made at a meeting of army veterans and JNU Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar, this week.

“The veterans met the administration yesterday and made a few suggestions. Having an Army memorial to commemorate the memories of soldiers who lost their lives fighting for the country is one such suggestion that the administration is actively considering," JNU Registrar Bupinder Zutshi told IE.

"We will be looking at various ways to do this. Having a wall of fame with soldiers’ names and photographs, showcasing a military tank or artillery… there are different things we will look at. We are also planning regular interactions between students and defence personnel," he said.

The meeting was held two hours before JNU students, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, who are charged with sedition, surrendered to the police.

During the JNU row, army veterans have expressed their anger and sadness at the "anti-national" slogans allegedly raised on the JNU campus, and they have opposed the event which was allegedly organized to mark the third anniversary of Afzal Guru's execution.

Afzal Guru was convicted for masterminding the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament.

At an event organized by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad, a right-wing students' group, Major General G.D. Bakshi mocked recent remarks about free speech made by U.S. Ambassador to India Richard Verma.

“Challenge Verma to allow celebration of Osama in any university in the US. Disappointed to hear that terrorism is being passed off as free speech,” he said.